Gunnel guard



Oct. 27, 1959 A. J. R. WEISBURG 2,910,033

GUNNEL GUARD Filed May 51, 1956 INVENTOR.

4420 J A?. Was-ewes Unite This invention relates to a gunnel guard and has for an object to provide an elongated and interiorly hollow strip that is adapted to be mounted in gunnel-guarding position and which has a continuously uninterrupted outer surface that is weather and wear resistant and which so hides the means fastening the guard in place as to enhance the appearance of the guard.

While this invention deals more particularly with a strip for obviating marring of boat gunnels where the same may bump and/ or slide along the stringers of piers and jetties and along the gunnels of other boats, the present strip may have other uses and places of application, as will hereinafter become apparent.

Another object of the invention is to provide a gunnel guard or similar strip that is constructed to open outwardly for access to means for fastening the strip in place and which embodies self-locking features that retain the form of the strip under normal use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a gunnel guard strip that is form-retaining, resiliently yielding under shock and compressive forces, and generally clean, neat and effective for the purpose intended and for other purposes.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more clearly evident from the following detailed description of at present preferred embodiments of the invention, the same having basis on the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a gunnel guard according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an end view thereof, partly in section, and shown as applied to the gunnel of a boat.

' Fig. 3 is an end view of another form of guard.

Figs. 4 and 5 are similar views of two other forms of guard.

The present guard is formed, in practice, as a continuous extrusion of natural or synthetic rubber, or plastic, such as polyethylene or polyvinyl resins. Accordingly, the same is nonmetallic, resilient, form-retaining, tough, and generally suitable to serve as a guard where attrition and weather are factors in the usual life of such strips. Accordingly, the same is quite efiicient as a guard for gunnels and the like in contradistinction to metals and other permanently distortable materials.

The present guard strip comprises, generally, a base or fastening wall 10, a guard wall 11, a wall 12 integrally connecting the walls and 11 along adjacent edges thereof, and separable interlocking means 13 connecting said walls 10 and 11 opposite to the wall 12. Formed in the above manner, the strip has a D-form in which the wall 10 is the straight side. It will be realized that walls 11 and 12 may combine to form one continuously curved wall and that regardless of the particular form of said walls 11 and 12, the same, together with wall 10, define an interior space or hollow 14. Said walls 10, 11 and 12 are preferably of uniform thickness although there may be some variation in the diiferent thicknesses,

States Patent 0 i Patented Oct. 27, 1959 as desired and the width of the space 14 is greater than such wall thickness.

The integral connection wall '12 connects to the guard wall 11 as along a curved corner 15 and it will be realized that said corner is of such flexibility that wall 11 may assume a position generally parallel to wall 10 and be able to be flexed outwardly, as shown by the dot-dash lines, of Fig. 2, to expose the interior face of the base wall 10.

The interlocking means 13 is shown in Figs. 1 to 4 as a socket portion 16 on the edge of the wall 10 that is opposite to the edge that joins wall 12, and a projecting locking portion 17 adapted to enter said socket and provided on the free edge of wall 11. Fig. 5 shows a reversal of this arrangement, the socket 16a being carried by the guard wall 11 andthe locking portion 17a by the base wall 10.

The socket and locking portion may be formed in different ways providing the former is provided with one or more retaining lips 18 and the latter with interengaging abutments or shoulders 19. Thus, whether the parts have the arrow-shaped form of Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5, the ball-shaped form of Fig. 3, or any other comparable interlocking form, said lips 18 and abutments 19, being resilient, may be interengaged or separated, as desired.

Although a nicety of fit between the socket and projection parts 16 and 17 is to be desired, the same is not essential since the purposes of the invention will be fulfilled even if the fit is approximately tight and the guard strip used with the interlocking means facing downwardly.

When first extruded, the strip is in uncured condition and has little elasticity although quite pliable. Curing of the strip is effected with the parts talc-coated, to prevent sticking, and the locking portion 17 residing in the socket 16. Since, after curing, the strip has the desired elasticity, the ability to be outwardly flexed, as above indicated, is an inherent property of the wall 11, as is the ability to return to closed or locked condition.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a guard strip has been provided that is adapted for application to a gunnel 20 by placing wall 10 against the same and affixing the same by suitable screws or bolts 21 to the gunnel while the wall 11 is raised, as indicated. When the means 13 is re-engaged by snapping the part 17 into socket 16, the strip is ready to function as a guard protecting the gunnel 20 and members with which it comes into contact.

Fig. 4 shows fins, studs and the like 22 which may be provided on wall 11 and in spaced relation to wall 10 to serve as compressive flexure-lirniting means for said wall 11. Said figure also shows a position-guiding enlargement 23 along one edge of wall '10, the same ensuring accurate aligning of the strip along the gunnel of a boat. A compressive feather edge 24 may be provided on said enlargement to seal tightly against the adjacent freeboard portions of a boat.

Since the material of the guard strip may be easily penetrated by a wood screw or other sharp-pointed instrument, wall 10 may not be provided with holes to receive screws 21. However, if desired, such holes may be provided in suitable spacing.

While I have disclosed what I now contemplate as the best mode of carrying out my invention, the construction is, of course, subject to modification without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. I, therefore, do not wish to restrict myself to the particular forms of construction disclosed but desire to avail myself of all modifications that may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Having-thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A guard strip formed of non-metallic resilient material and comprisingabase wall, a guardwall spaced from the base wall and integrally connected thereto along one longitudinal edge of the strip, the spacebe: tween the walls being greater than the thickness thereof, and separable interlocking means along the other longi-' tudinal edge, said means comprising socket and projection portions longitudinally coextensive with and integrally formed on the adjacent edges of the respective walls.

2. A guard strip comprising non-metallic resilient material and formed to have a D-shaped cross-sectional form, the same comprising a generally fiat base Wall, a guard wall integrally connected along one longitudinal edge of the base wall and normally separated from said, base wall along the opposite longitudinal edge, the space,

between the walls being greater than the thickness there.- of, and separable interlocking means partly on the base wall and partly on the guard wall to connect the base 'and guard walls along their normally separated edges References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,833,326 Krolman Nov. 24, 1931 1,881,231 Jackson Oct. 4, 1932 2,536,551 Johnson Jan. 2, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 532,304 Great Britain Jan. 21, 1941 

